The present invention relates to a knitting method of knitting a neckline of knitwear, such as a sweater and a cardigan, and to the knitwear knitted in the knitting method.
The applicant previously proposed in Japanese Laid-open (Unexamined) Patent Publication No. Hei 4-214448 (U.S. equivalent is U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,088) a knitting method of knitting a knitted fabric by using a flat knitting machine wherein a neckline of a front body is widened and also a front drop is formed in the neckline. In this knitting method, the front body is so knitted as to be forked from a starting point for the neckline to be formed into a right front body and a left front body which confront each other across the neckline. In the process of the knitting, widening stitches are formed around the neckline and also the stitches of the right front body and left front body are shifted to the outside, respectively. This knitting is repeated to knit the front body from the right and left front bodies up to their shoulder portions. As a result of the neckline being formed in this manner, the number of wale of the neckline is increased and, as a result of this, not only a collar knitted subsequent thereto is widened but also the front drop is automatically formed in the neckline. When the front body thus knitted is used to produce a sweater, the knitwear comes to be fancy and stylish and so comfortable to wear that when wearing, one""s head can smoothly pass through the neckline.
The method of the publication cited above is directed to a knitting technology for knitting the front body singularly as a part, not to the so-called xe2x80x9cseamless knitxe2x80x9d that is the knitting technology in which the front body and the back body are joined at each knitting-widthwise end thereof, to knit them into a tubular form and also are joined together at shoulder portions thereof in the process of knitting by using the flat knitting machine, to complete the knitting of knitwear, such as a vest and a sweater.
The xe2x80x9cseamless knitxe2x80x9d is the knitting technology for simplifying or omitting the sewing operation after the knitting process. The applicant has proposed in many applications a variety of knitting technologies on and in connection with the seamless knit so far, including Japanese Laid-open (Unexamined) Patent Publications No. Hei 2(1990)-91254, Hei 2(1990)-229248, Hei 4(1992)-209855 and Hei 4(1992)-153346.
In the seamless knit using a two-bed flat knitting machine, for examples, odd needles on the needle beds are used for a front part of a knitted fabric, such as a front body and front sleeve parts; even needles are used for a back part of the knitted fabric; and alternate needles on the front and back needle beds are used for the seamless knit. When the front part of the knitted fabric is knitted, the back part of the knitted fabric is retained on (associated with) the back needle bed. On the other hand, when the back part of the knitted fabric is knitted, the front part of the knitted fabric is associated with the front needle bed. Thus, the respective fabrics are knitted, with the front and back parts overlapping each other. As a result of this, the empty needles for transference can always be reserved for the respective parts of the knitted fabric on the opposed needle beds. Using the empty needles enables the knitting of the structure pattern, such as links, garter and rib, in which front stitches and back stitches are mixed, and also enables the stitches of the sleeves and bodies to be shifted laterally so as to be joined to each other. In contrast to this, in the seamless knit using a four-bed flat knitting machine, for example, the needles on the lower front needle bed and the upper back needle bed are used to knit the front part of the knitted fabric, and the needles on the lower back needle bed and the needles on the upper front needle bed are used to knit the back part of the knitted fabric. In the seamless knit using the four-bed flat knitting machine, when the front part of the knitted fabric is knitted, the back part of the knitted fabric is associated with the lower back needle bed. On the other hand, when the back part of the knitted fabric is knitted, the front part of the knitted fabric is associated with the lower front needle bed. As a result of this, the seamless knit using the four-bed flat knitting machine does not have the limitation that the alternate needles are used for the seamless knit, differently from the seamless knit using the two-bed flat knitting machine. The seamless knit can be provided by using a flat knitting machine of a transfer jack bed type having a transfer jack bed arranging thereon transfer jacks in line and disposed over either or both of the front and back needle beds of the two-bed flat knitting machine.
On the other hand, the stitch loop holding technique disclosed by Japanese Laid-open (Unexamined) Patent Publication No. Hei 11(1999)-43849, which is called xe2x80x9cholding techniquexe2x80x9d, is applicable to the seamless knit. The terminology, xe2x80x9choldingxe2x80x9d, means the stitch loop holding technique using a kind of compound needle, which is called xe2x80x9cslide needlexe2x80x9d, comprising a needle body and a slider which is formed by combining two thin metal sheets and has a tongue at a front end portion thereof. In the holding technique, the stitch as was originally retained in the hook of the needle body is held by the needle and also an additional stitch is received and held on the tongue of the slider, so that those two different stitches are separately held by the same needle. Reference is made to the publication mentioned above about the details of xe2x80x9cthe holdingxe2x80x9d. Using this holding technique enables the needle from which the stitch is transferred to be used as the empty needle. If this holding technique is used to transfer the stitches back to the original empty needles after the knitting is adequately performed, even the two-bed flat knitting machine can knit the knitwear seamlessly with all needles, without any need for previous reservation of the empty needles for the transference of stitches.
However, the application of the knitting method of Japanese Laid-open (Unexamined) Patent Publication No. Hei 4(1992)-21448 previously cited to the knitwear to be knitted seamlessly is not easy when the knitwear is wanted to widen the neckline width and also form the front drop in the neckline portion. For example, when the knitwear is knitted in the form of a vest, consideration must be taken of not only the front body but also the relation with the back body which is integrally knitted in parallel with the front body to confront it. Further, in knitting a sweater, a cardigan or the like, since the sleeves are laid at each side of the bodies, further consideration must be taken, including the horizontal and vertical positions of those parts and the way of forming the neckline in the front body and of being integrally knitted with the other parts while shifting the neckline to the outside, thus requiring further complicated consideration and calculation.
It is the object of the present invention to provide knitwear, such as a sweater, knitted seamlessly so as to have a front drop formed in the neckline which is knitted to have a large knitting width so as to be stylish and comfortable to wear.
The present invention provides a method of knitting knitwear comprising a front part having a front body and sleeves and a back part having a back body and sleeves by using a flat knitting machine comprising at least a pair of first and second needle beds, which are extended laterally and confront each other in back and front and at least either of which can be racked laterally to transfer stitches between the needles beds, wherein the knitwear is knitted in the condition that the front part of the knitwear is associated with the first needle bed and the back part of the knitwear is associated with the second needle bed, so that the body and sleeves of the front part and the body and sleeves of the back part are joined at both knitting-widthwise ends, so as to be knitted in the form of a tubular body and wherein while the bodies and the sleeves are knitted up to underarms of the knitwear and then are joined together from the underarms to shoulders so as to be knitted into a tubular form, stitches of the both sleeves and stitches of the bodies are laid over each other in sequence so that the tubular body can gradually decreased in diameter,
wherein a neckline is knitted in the following steps:
a) that from a front neckline forming starting point, from which the front body is forked into a right front body and a left front body, the right front body, a right sleeve, the back body, a left sleeve and the left front body are knitted in this order, and, then, after a yarn feeder is reversed in direction at the front neckline, to knit the left front body, the left sleeve, the back body, the right sleeve and the right front body in this order in a shuttle knitting, during which the stitches around the front neckline are sequentially put into inoperative states and simultaneously the stitches of the both sleeves are shifted toward the bodies and are laid over the stitches of the bodies one after another, so as to decrease a diameter of the tubular body;
b) that only the left front body and the right front body are knitted, during which the stitches around the front neckline are sequentially removed from the knitting so as to be put into inoperative states and also while the stitches of the back sleeves are fed from outside to the front needle bed to keep balance between the knitting widths of the front and back fabrics at sleeve portions thereof retained on the first and second needle beds, the stitches of the front sleeves are shifted toward the front body and laid over the stitches of the front body;
c) that while the knitting that the stitches around the front neckline are sequentially removed from the knitting so as to be put into inoperative states is continuously performed, the knitting of only the right front body and the left front body is performed, during which while widening stitches are formed, the stitches of the right front body and the stitches of the left front body are shifted toward the sleeves, so as to allow the stitches of the front sleeves to be laid over the stitches of the back sleeves as were fed to the first needle bed in the step b); and
d) that after shoulder portions of the back body and extended portions provided on tops of sleeve caps of the back sleeves are knitted in the order of the right back sleeve, the back body and the left back sleeve, the yarn feeder is reversed in direction to knit the left back sleeve, the back body and the right back sleeve in this reverse order in the shuttle knitting, during which the fabrics at the extended portions are fed toward the back body so as to allow the stitches at side ends of the sleeves and the stitches at side ends of the back body to be laid over each other and simultaneously the stitches of the front body at side ends thereof adjacent to the sleeves are fed to the second needle bed so as to be sequentially laid over the stitches at the side ends of the sleeves, whereby the front body and the back body are joined together across the extended portions of the sleeves.
Also, the present invention provides a knitting method of knitwear having a neckline with a front drop knitted by using a flat knitting machine, the neckline is knitted in the following steps:
a) that portions of front sleeves extending from underarms to tops of sleeve caps are joined to first portions of the front body extending partway of their lengths extending from the underarms to the shoulders along armholes;
b) that tops of the sleeve caps of the front sleeves and a part of tops of the sleeve caps of the back sleeves on the side continuous to the tops of the sleeve caps of the front sleeves are joined to part of the front body extending from the first portions to the shoulders, and widening stitches are formed around the neckline at the part of the front body extending therefrom to the shoulders;
c) that portions of the back sleeves extending from the underarms to the tops of the sleeve caps are joined to portions of the back body extending from the underarms to the shoulders along the armholes; and
d) that extended portions are formed in the remaining portions of the tops of the sleeve caps of the back sleeves and are knitted to be continuous to the shoulder portions of the back body, and the front body and the back body are joined together across the extended portions.
Also, the present invention provides knitwear having a neckline with a front drop knitted by using a flat knitting machine, wherein portions of front sleeves extending from underarms to tops of sleeve caps are joined to first portions of the front body extending partway of their lengths extending from the underarms to the shoulders along armholes; wherein tops of the sleeve caps of the front sleeves and a part of tops of the sleeve caps of the back sleeves on the side continuous to the tops of the sleeve caps of the front sleeves are joined to part of the front body extending from the first portions to the shoulders, and widening stitches are formed around the neckline at the part of the front body extending therefrom to the shoulders; portions of the back sleeves extending from the underarms to the tops of the sleeve caps are joined to portions of the back body extending from the underarms to the shoulders along the armholes; and wherein extended portions are formed in the remaining portions of the tops of the sleeve caps of the back sleeves and are knitted to be continuous to the shoulder portions of the back body, and the front body and the back body are joined together across the extended portions.
Operation of the present invention will be described below.
From the front neckline forming starting point, the front body of the knitwear knitted into the tubular body is forked into a right front body and a left front body and also is knitted by the shuttle knitting in the order of right front bodyxe2x80x94right sleevexe2x80x94back bodyxe2x80x94left sleevexe2x80x94left front body as if the alphabetic character xe2x80x9cCxe2x80x9d is drawn. Also, when the knitting is returned at the neckline, the stitches around the neckline are sequentially put into inoperative states. As a result of this, a circular front drop is formed in the front neckline and also an aperture of the neckline is widened. In parallel with this knitting, the front sleeves and the back sleeves are shifted toward the front body and the back body, respectively, and the stitches of the sleeves and the stitches of the bodies are laid over each other one after another along the armholes, so as to decrease a diameter of the tubular body. As a result of this knitting, the portions of the front sleeves extending from the underarms to the tops of the sleeve caps are joined to portions of the front body extending partway of their lengths extending from the underarms to the shoulders along the armholes and the portions of the back sleeves extending from the underarms to the tops of the sleeve caps are joined to the portions of the back body extending partway of their lengths extending from the underarms to the shoulders along the armholes.
Then, the knitting of the back body and the sleeves is suspended, during which only the left front body and the right front body can be knitted. During this knitting, the aperture of the neckline is widened continuously and the joining of the sleeves and the bodies is collaterally performed. The joining of the sleeves and the bodies is performed in such a manner that the front body and the front sleeves are joined together, first, and, then, a part of the back sleeves are joined to the front body. During this knitting, the front sleeves retained on the first needle bed are shifted toward the front body. If this knitting proceeds, then the front sleeves and the back sleeves will be moved away from each other in the boundaries to cause possible yarn ruptures in the boundaries therebetween. To avoid this possible yarn rupture, the stitches of the back sleeves retained on the second needle bed are sequentially fed to the first needle bed from the stitch at each outside end thereof, so as to keep balance of the knitting width between the sleeves retained on the front needle bed and the sleeves retained on the back needle bed.
During the next knitting of the neckline, while the widening stitches are formed, the stitches of the right front body and the stitches of the left front body are shifted toward the sleeves and are laid over the stitches of the front sleeves retained on the first needle bed and the stitches of the back sleeves shifted one after another. As a result of this knitting, the portions of the front body extending partway of their lengths extending therefrom to the shoulders, the tops of the sleeve caps of the front sleeves and a part of the tops of the sleeve caps of the back sleeves on the side continuous to the tops of the sleeve caps of the front sleeves are joined together.
Then, the shoulder of the back body and the extended portions provided on the tops of the sleeve caps of the back sleeves undergo the shuttle knitting between the right back sleeve, the back body and the left back sleeve. During this knitting, the fabrics of the extended portions of the sleeves are shifted toward the back body so as to allow the stitches of the sleeves and the back body at side ends thereof to be laid over each other and also the stitches of the front body at side ends thereof adjacent to the extended portions of the back sleeves are shifted to the second needle bed so as to be laid over the stitches of the sleeves at side ends thereof, so as to join the front body and the back body together across the extended portions of the sleeves. Then, the collar is knitted continuously to the neckline thus formed. As a result of this, the neckline is increased in number of wale and the collar knitted continuously thereto is also increased in width, thus producing the knitwear that is so comfortable to wear that when wearing, one""s head can smoothly pass through the neckline.